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78-Year-Old Priest On The Run

Runners took over the streets Sunday for the annual Lincoln Marathon. Among the 10,000 participants was 78-year-old Father Bernie Byrne.

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Reporter: Bill Steckis

78-Year-Old Priest On The Run

Runners took over the streets Sunday for the annual Lincoln Marathon. Among the 10,000 participants was 78-year-old Father Bernie Byrne.

"I've been blessed with good health so I thank God for that." Father Byrne of Saint Wenceslaus in Omaha got a rare Sunday off for a half-marathon.

He said having a sense of humor drives him, like getting out of a scheduled early morning session with his trainer. "I told the trainer that I had Mass that day and that was true. I didn't tell him the Mass wasn't until 6 o'clock that evening. It was a truth, but it was incomplete, I guess."

Running brings him strength and joy. The last race he ran was a 10K in Omaha last year and was okay with the finish. "I came in second, 24:24, in my age group. That's good news, right? The bad news is there were only two in my age group."

He ran his first and only marathon in Chicago when he was 45 years old. And now, 33 years later, "I have a good pair of legs and I want to use them as long as I can. It's just something I like to do and you keep on running until you run out of steam and I hope it's not in the foreseeable future, so it's just great.”

The more than 800 students at Saint Wenceslaus sent him off with prayers and posters. “The kids are wonderful."

Father Byrne completed the half-marathon in a time of 3:16:49.